F1 News
George Russell reveals the most important thing Lewis Hamilton taught him
- Sandy van Wijngaarden
George Russell has revealed the most important lesson he learnt from seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton during their three seasons as teammates. After finishing fifth at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Brit reflected on the impact that Hamilton has had on him.
Russell said he learned mostly that you have to be a good role model. "To be honest, I think just actually seeing first-hand what a role model he is. I think I sort of recognise from Lewis that we've all got this platform, and we have to use it frankly, and that's become even more apparent to me when I've got my young niece and nephews watching TikTok and YouTube and Netflix."
The Mercedes driver also finds it inspiring how Hamilton has dealt with wins and losses. "I spend a bit of time with Toto's son who also, he and his friends see Netflix and all of this stuff, and how you deal with the victories, how you deal with the losses," Russell continued. Before he joined Mercedes, he spent three seasons as a Williams driver, usually outperforming his equipment regularly.
The biggest life lesson Russell has learnt from Hamilton:
"You inspire the young kids, and I think also this weekend when I look back to that photo I had of Lewis and I when I was a kid, I looked up to him the same way all these kids look up to us. I think that's been probably the biggest life lesson that I've learned from him," Russell said.
In Abu Dhabi, Russell ended up in a heated war of words with Max Verstappen after an incident in Qatar. Nevertheless, Russell explained that it's still very important to be considerate of the young crowd. "Sometimes, even if you want to really express something, there's hundreds of millions of people watching and the way you do it is super important," the three-time Grand Prix winner concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Toby Nixon
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels, too!